Ethical environment, accountability, and sustainability reporting: What is the connection in the hospitality and tourism industry?

Amal Hamrouni, Abdullah S Karaman, Cemil Kuzey and Ali Uyar

Tourism Economics, 2023, vol. 29, issue 3, 664-695

Abstract: Drawing on institutional theory, this study tests how the ethical behaviors of firms, in interaction with public officials and through the strength of accountability regulations, influence sustainability reporting practices in the hospitality and tourism (H&T) sector. The results indicate that firms operating in a highly ethical business environment are less likely than those in a less ethical environment to disclose a sustainability report. However, accountability yields the opposite result; firms established in environments characterized by high accountability are more likely than low accountability environments to issue a sustainability report, which implies a complementary effect between the strength of the accountability and the firms’ sustainability disclosures. This verifies that the weakness or strength of informal and formal institutional forces exert considerable influence on firms’ desire to carry out sustainability reporting. However, this influence is not true of the acquisition of external assurance statements and following Global Reporting Initiative guidelines, with which accountability has a negative and insignificant association, respectively.

Keywords: Hospitality and tourism; sustainability reporting; ethical behavior; accountability; external assurance; global reporting initiative (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:toueco:v:29:y:2023:i:3:p:664-695

DOI: 10.1177/13548166211062649

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